Dexter Morgan
Dexter Morgan, the protagonist of the series, is a sociopathic serial killer who targets other killers. During his day job, he works as a forensic blood spatter analyst with the Miami Metro Police Department. He is the biological son of Laura Moser and Joe Driscoll, as well as the biological brother of Brian Moser, also known as the Ice Truck Killer. Dexter is the adoptive brother of Debra Morgan, and the adoptive son of Harry Morgan, a police captain who taught him to survive using the Code of Harry, and the husband of Rita Bennett. Together, they had a son, Harrison. Dexter has developed a detailed method of killing that has allowed him to evade detection. Dexter was the true Bay Harbor Butcher, although Sergeant James Doakes was framed for the crimes. Inner dialogue during the first episode of Season 5 confirmed Dexter's kill count to be 67 people, 68 by the end of the episode. Personality Dexter considers himself emotionally divorced from the rest of humanity; in his narration, he often refers to "humans" as if he is not one of them. Dexter makes frequent references to an internal feeling of emptiness, leading to many youthful attempts to "feel alive" (this was used more in the shows than the books). Dexter claims to have no feelings or conscience and that all of his emotional responses are part of a well-rehearsed act to conceal his true nature. He has no interest in romance or sex and he considers his relationship with Rita to be part of his "disguise." In the show he shows considerably more attachment and fondness for Rita than in the books. For example, in the first season he is afraid to have sex with her because he might lose her as a result; in the books he seems to view her more as a pet. There are kinks in Dexter's emotional armor, however. He acknowledges loyalty to family, particularly his dead foster father: "If I were capable of love, how I would have loved Harry." Since Harry's death, Dexter's only family is his sister, Debra Morgan, Harry's biological daughter. At the end of the first novel, Dexter admits that he cannot hurt Debra (and in an episode comically repeats in his head "I will not kill my sister" as she leaves his apartment a complete disaster when living with him) or allow Brian to harm her because he is "fond of her." He also appears to care more for Rita than he admits. Dexter likes children, finding them to be much more interesting than their parents. The flip side of this affection is that Dexter is particularly wrathful when his victims prey on children. In Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter realizes that Rita's son Cody is showing the same signs of sociopathology as Dexter himself did at that age, and looks forward to providing the boy with "guidance" similar to that which Harry provided him; in his way, he sees Cody as his own son. This also gives him a reason to continue his relationship with Rita who, as of Dearly Devoted Dexter, he is engaged to because of a misunderstanding. In the beginning of the third book, it has been shown that Cody is not the only one with dark impulses, as both children pressure Dexter to teach them. Dexter has come to accept his role as stepfather to both children very seriously in Dexter in the Dark, albeit in his typical fashion. For example, while on a stakeout, he begins to wonder if Cody had brushed his teeth before bed and if Astor had set out her Easter dress for photo-day at her school. These thoughts distract him while he is waiting for an intended victim, which thoroughly annoys him. Animals don't like Dexter, which can cause noise problems when Dexter stalks a victim who has pets. He is quoted as once having a dog who barks and growls at Dexter until he is forced to get rid of it, and a turtle, which hides in its shell until it dies of starvation rather than have to deal with Dexter. Early Life Dexter Morgan, (then Dexter Moser), was born only a few years after Brian Moser by parents Laura Moser and Joseph Driscoll. His mother, Laura, was involved in the drug trade and had a habit for painting her fingernails in different colours. Laura was a police informant for Harry Morgan, Dexter's eventual foster father and was also his lover, she was trying to get evidence against Santos Jimenez's boss. However, when Dexter was 3 years old, he and his brother Brian witnessed his mother die by the hands of three men (one of which was Santos Jimenez), along with 3 other people and was left, crying, in a pool of his mothers' blood in a shipping container, with his brother Brian. This is what led to his and his brothers' sociopathy and violent tendencies. However, Dexter soon after repressed this memory and only rememebers it later in his life (during Season 1). Brian, however, did not forget the massacre of his mother and was put in a mental institution for disturbed children and also grows up to be a serial killer. Harry Morgan was the first on the scene of the crime and took Dexter, guilt-ridden for breaking his promise that nothing would happen to Laura. However he leaves Brian, possibly because he wanted Dexter to forget his past, but according to Brian it was because he was too "messed up" to take. Harry adopted Dexter Moser and gave him the name Dexter Morgan. However later, when Dexter was 7, he spots Dexter's tendency to kill neighbourhood pets and presumes that Dexter is a sociopath and a budding serial killer with an innate need to kill. From this point Harry starts to give Dexter a code and trains him to cover his tracks and to not get caught and also gives him a moral code by which to live by. He decides to channel Dexter's urges in a positive direction and teaches him to be cautious, meticulous and an efficient killer and most of all to never leave any clues. He also teaches the boy how to fake human emotions and the natural reactions that are expected of him. The central part of this code are to only kill those who are deserving of death, such as killers. Slightly later, Dexter gets a large wound in his abdomen whilst climbing over a fence to get Debra (his adoptive sister)'s football. Hereby Harry discovers that he has a very special blood type and has to find a person with the same type, after searching for many alternatives he is forced to go to Dexter's biological father, a man who presumably blames Harry for the death of his wife, Laura, and gets his blood for Dexter. Dexter still has a scar from this event. In Dexter's teenage years, Debra starts to become envious of the time that Harry spends with Dexter, feeling that she is left out when he takes Dexter hunting and not her, when really it is so that he can fuel his serial killing needs into killing animals on the hunt. She even goes as far as saying: "Sometimes I almost wish that he had never brought you home!" but apologizes for it soon after. Harry constantly has to remind Dexter of the code during these years and has to even go as far as to stopping him from lashing out at a bully at school once. Doris Morgan, his adoptive mother died of cancer when he was 16. She had been suspicious of Dexter and was the one who suggested that he be tested by a psychologist. When he reaches a sexually mature age he realises that he is uninterested in the opposite, or indeed any, sex and therefore needs instruction by his father on how to act with women. He started studying jujitsu during college. Dexter was the top of his class in medical school but gave it up to become a forensics expert. When Dexter was 21, Harry fell ill of coronary artery disease and was confined to a hospital in which Harry spots a nurse, called Mary, who kills people by overdosing them on morphine, whereby Harry gives Dexter his "permission" to kill her which would turn out to be his first kill. Here he embedded several ritualistic qualities to his kills which he would come to do again and again, such as the strapping of the victim to some sort of long and flat object, and the covering of everything in sheets of plastic, but his trademark blood-slide collection would not begin here, only later would he start that particular ritual. Dexter's second victim was a murdering pimp called Juan Rinez. Juan was arrested but let off due to a faulty warrant and Harry is enraged by this fact and tries to convince himself that he was right in training him. However, when Dexter goes on to kill him, Harry accidentally walks in on him with the dismembered body parts of Juan Rinez and vomits and unbeknownst to Dexter, commits suicide because he couldn't face up to the reality of what he had trained his son to do. Only later does Dexter discover this however. Since then Dexter has killed at least 67 people including Mary, Juan Rinez, Alex Timmons, Gene Marshall and Cindy Landon. Season One At the start of Season 1, it is obvious that Dexter has settled into a steady life of ritualistic killing doubled with his life as a forensics blood spatter analyst. He is seen by his colleagues as a quirky lab geek and only one man, Sgt. James Doakes suspects him of being anything other than this. He maintains emotionless relationships in order to fit in with society and is constantly hunting for serial killers to satisfy his sadistic need to kill. At the start of the season, Brian, his long forgotten brother starts to send him friendly clues in the guise of messages as a form of friendly competition between them. He leaves puzzles in order to maybe trigger Dexter's memory of his past, such as the prostitutes with painted fingernails in homage to Laura Moser's habit and a room filled with blood, to remind him of his "birthplace". During which, Brian befriends Debra in order to get close to him under the name of Rudy Cooper. Meanwhile, Dexter struggles to keep his relationship with Rita sex-free, because he believes that if he has sex with her, she will feel his emotional dysfunctions and he starts to grow fond of her and doesn't want to blow it. Later, during a therapy session with Emmett Meridian (a future victim), he is put into a state of calm, wherein he remembers a small part of his past, seeing an image of a boy in blood. He becomes emotional and is able to sleep with Rita because of this, which makes the relationship more intimate. Come the end of the season, their relationship is very nearly normal. Later on, Brian leaves a room filled with the blood of prostitutes in order to remind him of his dark past and it opens up several memories of him in blood and later researches it and discovers that it was his mother whose blood he was in and that he not only has a brother but that his brother was with him during the massacre of his mother. But after he abducts his sister and tries to murder her he is forced to kill him for "the safety of his sister". He is very nearly heartbroken by this because he has killed the one person who truly saw him for what he was and didn't turn away from him. Season Two 38 days have passed, and he cannot kill becauses Doakes has been stalking him. Dexter becomes distracted after the death of his brother and loses his ability to kill momentarily at the start of the season. He realises that this is because he needs to say goodbye to his brother and move on. From this point Dexter starts to become more in contact with his emotions, but still, by no means, emotionally adept. Debra, traumatised by her ordeal with the Ice Truck Killer, moves in with Dexter, much to his annoyance and hinders his killing even further. Also, his bodies are found and every person in his station start searching for the elusive "Bay Harbour Butcher", which is Dexter. His relationship with Rita starts to become very shaky and he is forced to admit (falsely) that he is a heroin addict in order to cover for his being a serial killer and he starts going to Narcotics Anonymous programs for her as part of her cover. When he starts dating his sponsor, Lila Tournay, the relationship ends and from Lila he learns how to pleasure a woman and interact with them. He eventually ends up killing her for her murder of James Doakes and other murders from arson. Dexter frames Doakes for his crimes, escapes the justice system and gets back with Rita at the end of the season. At the very end of the season he decides to begin his own code and to try new methods, different to Harry's original idea. Inability to kill At the start of Season 2 Dexter still hasn't fully recovered from his brothers death and shares his apartment with his sister Debra. Dexter is being stalked by Doakes, who believes that Dexter is somehow connected to the Ice Truck Killer. That's why Dexter is unable to kill somebody and spends his time doing various other activities, like going bowling with Masuka and Batista, which he is seen doing during first minutes of show. Dexter really wishes to kill somebody and when he sees that Doakes, who has been stalking him, has left he uses this opportunity. Dexter goes to blind voodoo priest, named Jimmy and attempts to kill him but finds he is unable to do so and simply lets him go. Dexter then returns to his home. Dexter begins to feel cursed thinking that he can't do anything right anymore. Next morning Dexter arrives at a crime scene still frustrated about last night. There he sees that apparently a gang member has been killed. His mother who is also present at the crime scene runs to her son and says few words in Spanish to Dexter. Batista says that she said that her son was killed by someone named Little Chino and that she wants Dexter to kill him like a dog. Dexter sees this as a challenge, a "mountain to climb," to get over his peformance issues. After Chino comes to the police station Dexter is sure that he will be his next victim. Dexter manages to get convince Doakes that he will be playing bowling all night and makes him leave while in reality he plans to kill Little Chino. Dexter stalks Chino to a tattoo parlor where he kidnaps him and takes him to Jimmy's shop. Dexter then ties him to the same table where he had tied Jimmy and takes blood sample from him, but Chino suddenly awakes and manages to break the plastic wrap and escape, leaving Dexter frustrated. Season Three Rita discovers she is pregnant, informing Dexter that she will keep the baby and raise him with or without his help. He ends up proposing marriage to Rita, which she accepts. While stalking a murderous drug dealer, "Freebo", Dexter stumbles upon a fight between Freebo and another man, whom he is forced to kill in self defense. This victim turns out to be Oscar Prado, brother of Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits) a prominent assistant district attorney and old flame of Lt. LaGuerta. Miguel comes to confide in and trust Dexter after he helps assist with the case. Eventually, Dexter tracks down Freebo and kills him, but as he leaves he encounters Miguel, who has followed a lead to Freebo's location. Dexter tells Miguel he had discovered Freebo and killed him in self defense, but instead of reprimanding him, Miguel thanks him and offers to help him cover up the crime. As Dexter and Miguel cooperate to conceal Freebo's true demise from everyone else, the duo end up becoming close friends, as do Rita and Miguel's wife, Sylvia. Dexter later kills a murderer Miguel had complained about before. Miguel admited mentioning the man on purpose to test if Dexcter would go after him, but instead of arresting him, he praises Dexter for killing another criminal and offers his aid in the future. Trying to discourage Miguel, Dexter proposes a risky operation to free an infamous Aryan Brotherhood leader from prison in order to kill him. Miguel agrees with the idea and the plan succeeds, but Dexter still performs the kill on his own. Dexter starts to recognize Miguel as his first and only true friend, to the point of inviting him to be his best man at his wedding. While the MPD investigate a serial killer, "The Skinner", who skins his victims alive, Miguel and Dexter's partnership takes a new step when Miguel offers to be the one to kill their next target. With some reluctance, Dexter agrees, only watching as Miguel kills without hesitation. The next day, Ellen Wolf, a ruthless defense attorney and old courtroom adversary of Miguel's, goes missing, and Dexter discovers that Miguel has killed her alone using the code Dexter taught him. Dexter also learns that Miguel has been manipulating him since the beginning to learn his secrets, having never trusted him at all. The police investigate the death of Ellen Wolf and capture The Skinner. Meanwhile Dexter and Miguel race to have leverage over one another. Eventually Dexter realizes that Miguel cannot be allowed to run loose any longer, at which point Dexter decides to kill him and make it look like The Skinner did it. Meanwhile, Miguel uses his position to help The Skinner escape police custody in return for his agreeing to kill Dexter. Miguel discovers that LaGuerta was investigating him and decides to kill her, but Dexter discovers Miguel's plot and captures him. Before killing Miguel, Dexter confesses to him that he was the one who killed Oscar. Dexter succesfully frames the Skinner for Miguel's murder, but Miguel's other brother, Ramon, becomes suspicious of Dexter. After pointing a gun at Dexter during a dinner with Rita, he is taken into custody. During a visit to him in jail, Dexter helps Ramon put his demons to rest without revealing what he or Miguel really did together. On the night before his wedding, Dexter is captured by The Skinner, but breaks free by taking advantage of a moment when the Skinner is distracted, shattering his hand in the process. After a short but vicious fight, Dexter snaps The Skinner's neck and make it look like suicide by throwing his body before a running police car. Dexter gets his broken hand put in a cast and attends his wedding. Season Four In season four, Dexter and Rita are married and have a child together, Harrison. The season follows Dexter's attempt to adapt to married life in suburbia while searching for a serial killer dubbed "The Trinity Killer," who has been killing in cycles of three for nearly 30 years. After he predicted Trinity's third kill, Dexter attempted to crash Trinity's murder. Even though Dexter was unsuccessful in his attempted kill, he identifies Arthur Mitchell as Trinity by following him home, where he discovers Trinity has a wife and two children. Intriqued by Trinity's ability to blend into society while continuing to kill for so long, Dexter puts off his decision to kill him and instead tries to befriend him. They later meet at a the church where Arthur preaches, with Dexter under the alias "Kyle Butler." Dexter slowly gains Arthur's trust while hoping to learn some of Trinity's secrets for maintaining his dual-life. As time passes, Dexter learns that Trinity's "normal" homelife is not as perfect as it appears on the outside, with his wife and children emotionally and physically abused into obedience. While ignoring several chances to kill Trinity, Dexter attempts to prod him for information cause severe emotional reactions from him, which lead Mitchell's daily life and their relationship to become highly unstable. In a heated moment, Dexter reveals his motives to kill Arthur but is interupted before he can do anything. Trinity is able to discover Dexter's real identity and confronts him at the station. Trinity threatens to destroy Dexter's life if he doesn't leave him alone and attempts to flee the city. The following day, however, Dexter is able to catch up with Trinity and kill him. When Dexter goes home to get his bag for his honeymoon with Rita, he finds her dead in the bathtub, the last victim of Trinity. Season 4 end with Dexter carrying a blood-covered Harrison out of the bathroom with a distraught look on his face. Season Five The season five trailer aired at Comic-Con 2010 showed that the fifth season continues just after Dexter finds Rita dead in the bathtub. When he delivers the bad news to Astor and Cody, she begins to hate him for not being there for Rita. It also shows Dexter, apparently beating someone to death violently and screaming with frustration. The trailer also reveals that Dexter will face the consequences for his spending so much time with Arthur Mitchell and his family and that Quinn suspects that Dexter killed Rita. In the novels Much of Dexter's character is similar in the novels. However there are differences between the events that occur in the novels and in the TV series. When Dexter reaches a sexually mature age he realizes that he is uninterested in sex and needs instruction by his father on how to act with women. When Dexter was 18, Harry fell ill of coronary artery disease and was confined to a hospital where Harry spots a nurse who kills people by overdosing them on morphine. Harry gives Dexter his permission to kill her. However, Harry realises he made a mistake when Dexter returns. Near the end of the first book Brian and Dexter meet in a storage container similar to the one they were held in as children, and Brian recounts what happened. He says that one of the bodies they were surrounded by could have been their father for all they knew. Deborah is awake when Dexter arrives at the cargo container, and she learns of Dexter's hobby as a serial killer. After the death of Detective LaGuerta, Deborah begins to accept Dexter. During Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter is forced to 'wear' his disguise all the time after finding out that Seargent Doakes is following him, trying to catch him in the act of killing somebody. In desperation, Dexter tries to find something out about Doakes that might be useful in getting Doakes off his tail. However, he finds out very little. Dexter realises that Doakes and Kyle Chutsky know each other after Doakes has Captain Matthews call in help from Washington when a still-alive and heavily-dismembered body is found. Dexter learns from Deborah and Chutsky that Doakes served in a black-ops mission in El Salvador, and he also learns about Dr. Danco, the man responsible for the mutilated body. However, Chutsky himself is taken and Deborah pleads with Dexter to find him. Not long after, Dr. Danco sends Deborah Chutsky's finger with the ring still attached. Dexter keeps the ring to give back to Deborah, but Rita finds it and believes that Dexter was meaning to propose to her. Dexter, Deborah and Doakes work together to try to find other members of the El Salvador unit. During a chase through Miami, Dr. Danco runs Dexter and Deborah off the road, and it is left to Dexter to find Dr. Danco and Chutsky. Dexter and Doakes set up a trap to lure the doctor. The trap works too well - Dr. Danco takes Doakes. Dexter traces Doakes' cell phone to an alligator farm where he finds Chutsky and helps him escape, but Dr. Danco escapes with Doakes. Deborah and Chutsky ask for Dexter's aid in finding Dr. Danco once more, however Dexter himself is captured by Dr. Danco and it is only due to the timely arrival of Deborah and Chutsky that saves him. In Dexter in the Dark, the third novel of the series, it is revealed through third person narrative of an entity referred to as "IT" that the Dark Passenger is an independent agent inhabiting Dexter, rather than a deviant psychological construction. Later, Dexter realizes the Dark Passenger is related to Moloch, a Middle Eastern deity worshiped in Biblical times. The Dark Passenger is one of Moloch's many offspring; Moloch had many children (formed through human sacrifice), and learned to share its knowledge with them. Eventually, there were too many, and Moloch killed the majority; however, some of them escaped into the world. In the novel, Dexter learns of the Dark Passenger's true nature when it briefly "leaves" him, frightening him into researching possible reasons for its existence. Dexter comes to accept his role as stepfather to both children very seriously in Dexter in the Dark, albeit in his typical fashion. For example, while on a stakeout, he begins to wonder if Cody had brushed his teeth before bed and if Astor had set out her Easter dress for picture day at her school. These thoughts distract him from hunting an intended victim, which thoroughly annoys him. Dexter by Design is the fourth book in Jeff Lindsay's series about Dexter Morgan, a Miami blood spatter analyst and vigilante serial killer. Here, Lindsay deviates from the supernatural subtext of the previous book, Dexter in the Dark, and focuses on the psychological suspense. The book opens in Paris, with Dexter and Rita on their honeymoon. There, while visiting an art gallery, Dexter and Rita are introduced to the concept of body parts being used as art by an avant-garde performance piece called "Jennifer's Leg" in which the artist amputates her own limb. When they return to Miami, Dexter crosses paths with two new enemies; a suspicious homicide detective, and a new serial killer in town targeting tourists. In Dexter is Delicious, Dexter finally decides to give up his dark hobby after witnessing the birth of his daughter Lily Anne. He believes that for the first time in his life he is feeling genuine emotion. During the novel, Dexter is reaquainted with his brother Brian, who knows about Dexter's child. Dexter struggles with the burden of feeling emotions while attempting to give up his serial killing life. At one point, Dexter indulges himself after getting angry, but he immediately vows not to do it again. At the end of the novel, Dexter sets out to kill Bobby Acosta, the cannibal son of a city commissioner who gets away with murder and cannibalism, after Deborah realises that Bobby's father will simply pay for the entire thing to disappear. Notes * Dexter amuses himself with puns about his serial killing, at significant risk to himself. He bought animal tranquilizers using the name Patrick Bateman, the serial killer from American Psycho. His boat (purchased in the Early Cuts short series) is called Slice of Life. * Dexter takes virtually no countermeasures against leaving digital trails and electronic evidence. He frequently takes phone calls at or near the site of a kill. He also performs searches on potential victims and associates using his work computer. It's shown in Season 3 that at least some of these searches are logged; Miguel Prado discovers that Dexter searched for info on his brother Oscar Prado, and later that Maria LaGuerta searched for info on him as well. He also left Rita's GPS device in her minivan, which allowed Lila to track down Santos Jimenez's Everglades cabin and discover an imprisoned Sergeant Doakes as well as Dexter's secret life as a serial killer. * The young Dexter was played by Dominic Janes, while a teenaged Dexter is played by Devon Graye. * In preparation for his kills, he wears his trademark pants and long sleeve shirt. These clothes stay the same during all four seasons. * Dexter used to skate. *Dexter is very skilled in jiu jitsu and other grapple techniques. He is also skilled in many self defense moves to take down his victim. *At the end of each season, he usually ends up killing someone important to him. He also changes his way to kill them. -Season 1: Brian Moser; Used Brian's own ritual to kill him, and mourned his death. -Season 2: Lila West; Used anesthetics to make her death painless. -Season 3: Miguel Prado; Killed him with a wire. -Season 4: Arthur Mitchell; Killed him with his old fashion trains, his favorite song, and with a Hammer which formed part of Arthur Mitchell's own ritual. *In Season 3, Episode 7, Easy as Pie, Dexter is shown golfing with Prado. Dexter's stance and swing suggests that he is left handed. Yet, in the same episode, Dexter is obviously right handed by the way that he handles the syringe, the way he feeds Camilla, and even down to the wrist he wears his watch on. Also, in other episodes, Dexter uses his right hand during "play time." It is also possible that Dexter is ambidextrous, and has the ability to use both hands equally. However, this is uncommon. There are many athletes in golf, baseball and hockey, who swing from the left side despite being a right handed person in everything else. Category:Characters Category:Season 1 characters Category:Season 2 characters Category:Season 3 characters Category:Season 4 characters Category:Main characters Category:Characters from the dexter book series